The ‘Rock Is Dead’ Argument Is Dead Wrong. Here Are 12 Reasons Why.

It’s late-November, which means it’s just about time for critics to finish putting together their best albums of the year list, and write their trend pieces about what 2012 meant to music in general. (The answer: dubstep.) Meaning, someone will inevitably play the “rock is dead” card, and a million commenters will agree. Because that’s what happens every year — and every year, it’s wrong. It’s just especially wrong this year.

It’s not tough to understand where the “rock is dead” argument came from — the 1960s have always been considered “the best” for music, whatever that means, while post-Nirvana bands turned nu metal bands turned boy bands give us an easy “this is when things were good, this is when things turned bad” dividing line. It’s never that simple, though; claiming that an entire genre of music has sucked since either 1969 or 1995 because Coldplay was technically the top-selling rock band of 2011 is like saying that all TV is awful because Two and a Half Men is a hit. It’s a shame, too, because 2012 has been a great year for rock albums, both underground and mainstream, one that can best described as “F*CK YEAH!” (*shotguns a beer*)

We’ll have our own Best-of 2012 list sometime in December, but until then, give a listen to some of the year’s best rock and/or roll albums. (By that, we mean hewing closely to imperfect vocals, slashing guitar riffs, crashed drums, and steady bass, with a few extra flourishes here and there, meaning no Beach House or Tame Impala or Fiona Apple, for this list at least.) The 12 bands selected didn’t necessarily put out the 12 best albums of 2012, but they did disprove anyone who falsely claims that rock died with Keith Moon.

Not only survived but perfected and transcended the genre they came out of. I havent had a chance to listen to anything off this last one but they never disappoint me. Ever. I thought Diamond Eyes was the best thing they have done since White Pony.

No one goes from hard to melodic quite like the Deftones do. They aren’t nearly as popular as they once were or many of the bands that drew influence from them but thankfully they are still putting out new material.

they’re still able to fill 1000 seat places and probably will until they hang it up. the new one is just as solid as everything else. it’s a little more spacey and loose as opposed to Diamond Eyes more back to basics aggression and whatnot.

I was so incredibly disappointed they didn’t come to my town on the latest tour. They’re consistently one of the best live acts around. I converted my wife and another friend to lifetime fans by bringing them to deftones shows.

Didn’t he also have a different take on the band after he saw them live?
I don’t know why, after listening to the album multiple times I just can not get into them. at all.
I mean different strokes and all, but I can’t stand them.

A lot of people have bagging on it, which I don’t get; I think all their albums have a bunch of great singles, some filler, and are otherwise solid, if not spectacular, including Handwritten. It’s not The ’59 Sound, but it’s close.

Lonerism is one of the year’s best albums, but for this feature at least, I wanted to focus on, for a lack of a better word, “heavy” rock. But don’t worry, you haven’t heard the last of them on Uproxx…

Cool! They have three albums. Kezia they wrote most of while in high school but it’s just so good. Combines a bunch of different styles, and like I said, the lyrics and concepts are just awesome. I highly recommend reading the lyrics while listening because the story is really cool.

Fortress, their second album doesn’t really fit into this as much. I love it but it pretty much just a straight up progressive metal album.

Scurrilous, their most recent is a lot more rock oriented. Has more of a verse/chorus structure to some of the songs and there are almost no harsh vocals.

No Black Country Communion? They must be TOO good to be on this list. I mean really? Glen Hughes has only played with some of the most iconic bands of all time with Deep Purple and Sabbath. Jason Bonham. Nothing more needs to be said there. GROSS OVERSIGHT GOOD SIR!!!

I only know the Deftones on this list and after listening to the clips, dare I say Im glad? I guess”rock” is no longer my thing as I lean more towards Hard Rock and Heavy Metal these days.

How exactly do you pronounce Japandroids? Is it Japan droids, jap androids, or jap and roids. I like to think it is Jap and roids because I imagine a sumo wrestler on roids. Racist? Maybe. Funny in my crazed mind? Mos Def

When rock was cool, it wasn’t just about good music. As cliche as it is to say, it was an attitude. The guys who played it were cool. People actually wanted to party with Jimmy Page and John Bonham, or Keith Richards and Mick Jagger.

Those guys in the banner pic? Not so much. I bet I could drink every one of them under the table. They may be great musicians, I don’t know, but there isn’t very much that’s rock and roll about them. They look more like substitute teachers than rock stars.